By Ben Agande
ABUJA—CHAIRMAN of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru
Jega has said that the registration of voters for the 2011 elections would commence nationwide in January, 2011.

Jega who spoke at the training of INEC staff in Abuja also emphasized that the success of the registration exercise would be crucial to the success of the 2011 elections.

He noted that Nigerians had high expectations for a positive change in 2011 and urged the staff of the commission to prove to Nigerians that it was no longer business as usual.

Jega who said that staff of the commission that were undergoing the training exercise could only impart adequate knowledge about the voters registration to other trainers if they fully understood the modules and manuals being used.

He added that the time extension being given the commission would give INEC the needed time to acquire and fully deploy the direct data capturing machines, DDCMs, needed for the exercise, adding: “We have finished everything about the procurement of the DDC machines and I want to assure you that the machines will be in our hands in good time before the commencement of the registration exercise” adding that the machines would be delivered to INEC  long before the voters’ registration exercise.

“We do not want to pre_empt things, we have done our preparations and our planning. As soon as formalities are completed, we will make an announcement on the new time table.

“Despite the new time plan, the registration exercise will now be sometimes in January but when we announce the time table the details will be made available to the public”.